EU orders Apple to pay up to €13bn in Irish taxes - business live
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12.16pm BST
A few more quotes from Margrethe Vestager, the European Commissioner for competition who announced the Apple ruling:
Member states cannot give unfair tax benefits to selected companies, no matter if they are European or foreign, large or small, part of a group or not.
[In 2011], for every million in profits, it [Apple] paid just a500 in taxes. This effective tax rate dropped further to as little as 0.005% in 2014 which means that even less was paid in taxes - it was a50 euros per a1m in profits.
11.56am BST
Anneliese Dodds, a British member of the European parliament, says the EU ruling on Ireland's sweetheart tax deal is a "watershed moment" in the fight against tax avoidance and evasion.
Once again the EU is showing that it leads the way in the fight for tax justice. If the commission has found that the Irish government arranged a special sweetheart deal for Apple in the early 1990s, then it is absolutely right to call an end to this practice and demand that Apple repay the money that it has avoided in taxes for over twenty years.
The Tory government in the UK should take note of today's landmark decision when it approaches Brexit negotiations. Today's decision should mark a watershed moment in the fight against tax avoidance: the race to the bottom on tax must stop, and we must make sure all companies - whatever their size - are able to compete in a fair environment.
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